Animal-trap.



AT. l. MEN. APPLICA NIIVIAL TRAP.

on FILED musa 19 'hmmm Patented J une 1, 1915 SHEETS-SHEET I fr N DRRISPETER al, PHOTO-LITHO w ASHIN GTON T. l. MEN.

ANIMAL TRAP.

APPLICATION H'LED JUNE 9. 1914.

Patented June 1, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE NURRIS PETERS C0.. PHOTO-LITHO. wAsHlNGTN, D C

srTES rric ANIMAL-TRAP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1, 1915.

Application lecl .Tune 9, 1914. Serial No. 844,070.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, THOREY I. Monia, a citizen of the United States,residing `at Chippewa Falls, in the county of Chippewa andState ofWisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inA.nimal-Traps, of which the following is4 a specification. i

The primary object of this invention 1s to provide a device forentrapping rodents, and similar animals, into a receptacle by means 0fautomatically setting trap doors so arranged that the springing of saiddoors does not take place until the rodent has advanced over one *andonto another of the same, the latter door being operab-ly connected to atrigger, normally maintaining the first mentioned door in inoperativeposition, so that upon contact of the rodent with the secondpmentioneddoor said rodent is suddenly precipitated into the receptacleby thesimultaneous yielding of said doors. It is contemplated to employ aguard member associated with the second door and beneath which the baitis disposed, for the purpose of preventing the escape of the rodent byleaping in the direction of its movement onto the doors, when it firstfeels yielding of the same under its weight. These and such otherobjects as may hereinafter appearare attained by the novel construction,combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specificallydescribed and claimed.

Reference will now be .had to the accompanying drawings forming a partof this specification, wherein# n Figure l is a perspective View of anembodiment of this invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional viewthrough the device. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on Ythe line3-43 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 4 isavertical sectional view on the line 4;-4' of Fig. 2.A Fig. 5 isavertical sectional view on the line 5`5 of.V

Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a sectional View on the line 646 of Fig. 5, and Fig. 7is a sectional `view on the line 7 7 of Fig. 4 showing `more clearly thepivotalmounting of a door employed in this trap. Throughout thefollowingdetail description, and on the several igures'of the drawings, similarparts are referred to` by llke reference characters;

Referring to the drawings and specifically describing the invention, thenumeral l designates a receptacle, the material of which is preferablymetal, said receptacle being provided with a' pair of coperating trapdoors 2 and 3 pivotally mounted in an opening in its upper surface as at2, 3'." As a matter of convenience a gangway 4 is secured to thereceptacle at one end so as to enable the rodent to be entrapped to gainaccess to the upper surface of the receptacle l. It will be notedparticularly that the mechanism for controlling the operation of thetrap doors of this device is disposed within the receptacle and for thepurpose of presenting a device in which the moving pa-rts are not likely'to arouse the suspicion of a rodent as to the nature of the same. Thismechanism will now be described.

Near the forward end of the receptacle l of the trapis provided apartition 5 eX- tending transversely of the receptacle and having aVvertical slot 5 therein in which is pivotally mounted a trigger 6, thetrigger being of a weighted variety so as to automatically cause thiselement to assume a normal upright position such as is shown in Figs. 2and 6. `The upper end of the trigger is notched and normally engagesover a spring loop member 7 pendent from one end of the door 2.Pivotally vsecured 'to a wall of the partition 5 is a double armoperating lever 8, one arm 8 of which is secured to the upper end of thetrigger 6 as shown at 8". The other arm '8L of the lever 8 extends or isbent downwardly from the main portion of said lever and is connected bymeans of a link or bar 9 to the pendent arm l0 of a second double armlever l0 Vpivotally mounted beneath the trap door 3. The second arm l()aof the lever l0 extends forwardly of the door and contacts therewith asshown most clearly in Figs. 2 and This dooris also provided at its rearend with a pendent loop l1 the purpose of which will more clearly be setforth hereinafter.

Withthe above details of construction in mind the operation of thedevice will be apparent from the following: The bait for the trap ispreferably disposed at the rear end of the receptacle I'adjacent therear end of thetrapdor 3 and -beneath =a guard member or `cage l2 whichis disposed upon the upper surface of the receptacle in a positionsurrounding this door.` When the rodent passes up the gangway 4 onto thesurface of the receptacle and advances ontothe door 2 toward thebait atthe farther end of said receptacle said door is preventedAfro/m yieldingby reason of the engagementof the trigger 6 with the pendent loop 7carried by thedoor 2. Immediately upon the contact of the rodent withthe door 3, the rodents weight will cause the door to yield downwardlyat its free end which actuates the lever 10 and through the connection 9eluded.V For this purpose the circuitwires c V13 and 14 leading from asource ofelectrical energy such as a battery (not shown) are connectedto the doors- 3 and 2 respec-V tively, as most clearly shown in Figs. 2and 3, the circuit being maintained open by reason of the spacing of thefree ends of V said doors from each other, or if desired said doors'maybe suitably insulated from eachother in amanner well'known to thoseskilled in this art. To enable the transmission of the electric currentthe doors are understood'to be of metallic material so that whentherodent, standing upon the door 2 moves onto the door 3 thecircuit isclosed and the electrocution takes place as he is precipitated into thereceptacle. The partition 5 is preferably'provided adjacent its upperedge with an inwardly projecting arm 15 which by its engagement with thespring loop member 7 Ylimits the pivotal Y Y movement of the door 2 asshown in dotted lines of Fig. 2; Likewise the door 3 is limited in itsmovement by the provision of a projecting abutment arm lf3-extendingfrom the partition 17 in said receptacle through Y, the cooperation ofsaid armrwith the spring i loop 11. Y v As hereinbefore mentioned, thelower end of the trigger Gis weighted or made heavy Y' in its formationso as to automatically return to its upright position when the doorshave been sprung and the weight of the rodent isremovedtherefrom. Thistrigger, therefore, acts to forcibly cause the door `3 to assume itsroriginalfhorizontal position.'

VThedoorm?J is weighted .at its outer edge as 'n shown at 1S sothatwhenthe weight of the animal is taken from said door it will descendat this` end and the loop "which is of a yielding character will engagebeneath the hooked terminal of the trigger. It will 'be apparent thatthe spring 7 performs aj dual function in that it maintainsthe door innormal horizontal position by its coperation with the trigger `6 asabove described and also acts to limit the pivotal `movement of saiddoor through its coperation with the abutment arm 15. Itsometimes occursthat the rodent upon the initialyielding of Y trap doors in devices ofAthis character effects its escape by leaping therefrom and to guardagainst this possibility I have emyployedfthe guard screen 12surrounding the door 3, Vwhich guard also prevents access to the baitwithout approaching same over the trap doors. .j

. Having -thus described Ythe invention, what is'claimed as new is Y Y.

V1. In a trap ofthe class described,the combination of a pair of pivotedtrapdoors, a trigger member pivotally mounted adja Ycent one of saiddoors forY holding the Vsame against movement, connecting means intermediate: the VotherV of said.V doors and one end of Ythe triggerV formoving thelatter corresponding with @the pivotal movement of the lastmentioneddoor into disengaging and engaging positions with respect tothe first mentioned-door, andyieldable means on the first Vmentioned:door for springing intoengagement with the trigger when the l latterisin its'no'rmal engaging position. 2. In a trap of the class described,the

combination of a pair of pivoted trapV doors, atriggermemberpivotallyzmounted beneath one of saidA doors forholdi`1igthe same against movement, connecting means intermediate theother of said'V doors and, one

end of the trigger for kmoving the latterzcor-I responding with thepivotal movement of toward the the last mentioned door into'zdisengagingY Y and engaging positions with respect to the` first mentoned'door, aspring onthe Yfirst mentioned door for engaging with the trigger whenVthe-latteris in itsnormal engaging position, and stop means Vengageablebyl movement the yieldable means for limiting of the first mentioneddoor. e j Y c 3. In as trapA of thev class'deserbed, ,the combination'ofa receptacle, trap .doors piv ed tri ger pivotally ...secured adjacentone ofsai doors and normally disposed in an upright position, aV:yieldable Vloop :member pendent from said-door and engaged byV thetrigger to normally hold the door against movement, a double armAleverisecuredf to Vthe other of said doors, a link member con? nectedtoone of the armsjofthe aforesaid.`

Votally mounted onsaidreceptaclda weight- Y f lever,`.an operating.lever., disposedadjacent th'e trigger and connected{theretoatione endand to the link at its other end Where- In testimony whereof I ailix mysignature by upon springing of the trap doors to cause in presence oftWo Witnesses.

the last mentioned door to resume its no1"- THOREY I. MOEN. maloperative position, and stop members Witnesses:

for limiting pivotal movement of the doors l J. HOWARD BROWNE,

When sprung. KATIE HAYES.

Copies o1 this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

